OJAI : More Time Asked to Study Dump Report
The public should have more time to comment on the revised environmental report for the proposed landfill at Weldon Canyon, the Ojai City Council said Tuesday.
The report, issued last week by the Ventura County Resource Management Agency, must be completed before Waste Management Inc. can build a landfill at Weldon Canyon, between Ventura and Ojai along California 33.
The public review period on the document is scheduled to end Dec. 11, but Ojai council members voted to ask county officials to extend the period and postpone making a decision on whether the document is complete.
Councilwoman Nina Shelley said not enough time was allowed for city officials and the public to analyze the many revisions that have been incorporated into the report.
“There were over 600 comments made resulting in some significant changes in the EIR,” Shelley said. “There needs to be more than just two weeks for the public to get through that. It’s a matter that will have impacts over many decades, and it deserves the fullest measure of time for everyone to get a good look at it.”
The council, which has gone on record opposing the landfill project, also decided to spend up to $15,000 to hire attorneys to examine the document for inadequacies.
“It’s not over till it’s over,” Shelley said. “We will explore absolutely every avenue we can within reasonable costs” to try to defeat the plan.
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